Developing a Thorough Marketing Plan

It's time to develop a marketing plan. Bring together everything you have learned and experienced to date, and create a thorough, detailed plan for one of the following products:

An established beverage manufacturer is introducing a completely new product - flavored milk beverages. The target market is 6-12 years old.
A senior citizen's center, located in a "collar community" of a large Northeastern (US) city.
A travel agency is introducing "eco tourism" packages. The target market is 30-45 years old.
The marketing plan should include:

Executive Summary
Situation Analysis
Target Markets (demographics, needs, trends, etc.)
Critical Analysis Considered (SWOT, Competitive, etc.)
Product(s) Defined (features, benefits, etc.)
Anything else you believe to be important
Key Marketing Objectives (what are you trying to accomplish?)
Strategic Initiatives
Positioning
Differentiation vs. Competition
Pricing Strategy
Distribution Strategy
Tactical Plans
Promotional Tactics to be Used
Develop a creative execution of a print ad
Develop a creative execution for a direct mail or e-mail campaign
Timing
General Thoughts on Budget (where will you spend money?)
Anything else you believe to be important
Other
Keys to Winning
Barriers to Success
How will you measure results
Group Portion: Use the Small Group discussion board to:

Define the scope of the marketing plan
Agree on general parameters such as target market, positioning and differentiation, pricing and promotion strategies
Decide who will write which piece of the plan

Solution Preview

#1
An established beverage manufacturer is introducing a completely new product - flavored milk beverages. The target market is 6-12 years old.

2. Situation Analysis
The flavored milk beverage Milkos is targettted at 6-12 years old school going children and it fulfills their need to have a cold flavored filling tasty drink. The trend of the children away from flavored water based drinks opens up new opportunities for Milkos. This drink will be sold in bottles and through dispensers in schools and in grocery stores. The pricing of the bottle will be at par with carbonated drinks. Initially the drink will be in five flavors and each flavor will have a different distinct color.
Our main strength lies in the fact that milk is perceived to be nutritious. The weakness is that many parents believe flavored milk to be fattening. The threat lies from nutrition specialists who may declare Milkos to be bad for children's health.
3. Key Marketing Objectives (what are you trying to accomplish?)
We are trying to establish a niche of at least 30% of the market for ourselves in the children's drink market, which is worth $56 million.
4. Strategic Initiatives
The positioning of the drink would be "healthy milk drink". To strengthen its positioning vitamins may be added and mentioned on the bottles and dispensers. The main differentiation is that milk is good for health and this differentiates it from carbonated drinks that are perceived to be unhealthy. The pricing strategy would be to keep its prices at par with carbonated drinks. The distribution would be at schools where bottles as well as dispensers would be installed. In addition, the bottles would also be available at grocery stores and at bargain stores.
5. Tactical Plans
Initially coupons would be distributed at schools that would get them a free drink from the dispenser. The creative execution would incorporate a Walt Disney character that would attract children. The launching would take place when the new term starts at school after the holidays.
6. Other
The keys to winning would be the timing, the execution of the plan and the quality of the product. The barriers to success would include the tendency of the milk to sour in the machines and the propaganda that milk consumption was fattening for children. The results would be measured by the degree to ...

Solution Summary

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"The positioning of the drink would be "healthy milk drink". To strengthen its positioning vitamins may be added and mentioned on the bottles and dispensers. The main differentiation is that milk is..."